Several times each year, the Erik Wemple Blog goes through a frustrating exercise. We spot a poll regarding the public’s view of the media, or some cable-news channel, or whatever. Said poll contains some eyebrow-twitching findings. But then it turns out that poll doesn’t meet Post standards for publication. Too bad.

Axios might have published the results of one such poll on Sunday in an article titled “Exclusive poll: AOC defining Dems in swing states.” This “exclusive” came from the desk of Mike Allen, an icon of the publish-everything madness with which political journalists first embraced the Internet. Here’s the top of the piece:

Top Democrats are circulating a poll showing that one of the House's most progressive members — Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez — has become a definitional face for the party with a crucial group of swing voters.

Why it matters: These Democrats are sounding the alarm that swing voters know and dislike socialism, warning it could cost them the House and the presidency. The poll is making the rounds of some of the most influential Democrats in America.

The piece reports that the poll was taken in May and that it “included 1,003 likely general-election voters who are white and have two years or less of college education.” An important constituency, in other words.

Absent, however, is any indication of who did the poll, who commissioned it, how it was conducted, what the questions were, what its other results were and so on. The write-up by Allen totals 390 words, in alignment with the Axios brand promise of “smart brevity.”

There’s such a thing as benighted brevity, though. More words, after all, are required to provide readers with critical information about the poll — and whether it complies with polling standards. The American Association for Public Opinion Research maintains a checklist of elements that should be disclosed when releasing such information to the public:

Name of the survey sponsor

Name of the organization that conducted the survey

The exact wording of the questions being released

A definition of the population under study. What population is the survey designed to represent?

A description of the sampling frame used to represent this population

An explanation of how the respondents to the survey were selected

The total sample size

The method or mode of data collection

The dates and location of data collection

Estimates of sampling error, if appropriate

A description of how the data were weighted (or a statement that they were not weighted), and any estimating procedures used to produce the final results

If the survey reports findings based on parts of the sample rather than the total sample, then the size of the subgroups reported should be disclosed

The leak of the polling numbers to Axios had a clear purpose contextualized by the Democratic infighting of recent weeks. In an interview with New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) criticized the “Squad,” a group of progressive Democratic congresswomen of color: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (N.Y.), Ilhan Omar (Minn.), Rashida Tlaib (Mich.) and Ayanna Pressley (Mass.). They’ve chafed under Pelosi’s establishment Democratic leanings. “All these people have their public whatever and their Twitter world," Pelosi told Dowd. "But they didn’t have any following. They’re four people and that’s how many votes they got.” The Axios “scoop” contained these nuggets about Squad members:

Ocasio-Cortez was recognized by 74% of voters in the poll; 22% had a favorable view.

Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota — another member of The Squad — was recognized by 53% of the voters; 9% (not a typo) had a favorable view.

Meanwhile, on Sunday, Trump tweeted racist instructions that the Squad should “go back” to deal with problems in their own lands, even though three of them were born in the United States.

A midsummer stew has continued to feed the story: There aren’t too many other pressing issues on the national news map at the moment; Trump continues recommitting himself to the racist sentiments; Republicans have been forced to respond to the outrageous comments with varying degrees of apologism, evasion and, occasionally, disapproval.

So Trump has felt compelled to continue his self-defense. There’s the too-much-protesting tweet:

Those Tweets were NOT Racist. I don’t have a Racist bone in my body! The so-called vote to be taken is a Democrat con game. Republicans should not show “weakness” and fall into their trap. This should be a vote on the filthy language, statements and lies told by the Democrat.....

.....Congresswomen, who I truly believe, based on their actions, hate our Country. Get a list of the HORRIBLE things they have said. Omar is polling at 8%, Cortez at 21%. Nancy Pelosi tried to push them away, but now they are forever wedded to the Democrat Party. See you in 2020!

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Erik WempleErik Wemple, The Washington Post's media critic, focuses on the cable-news industry. Before joining The Post, he ran a short-lived and much publicized local online news operation, and for eight years served as editor of Washington City Paper. Follow